A Tradition Of Yachting Excellence
As one of the oldest yacht clubs in the world, established in 1869, Chicago Yacht Club is the embodiment of tradition as demonstrated by the red carpet welcome the competitors at the Rolex Farr 40 World Championship have received. The club's Monroe Harbor Station, where the regatta is headquartered from September 17-20, is ideally situated just a short distance from the Magnificent Mile, the main link between Chicago's business district and its exclusive Gold Coast neighborhood, making it the perfect venue in which to bond business relationships through sporting competition.
Eric Mergenthaler (Mexico City, Mexico), chief executive with Active International Mexico, is no stranger to competing at the elite level having represented Mexico in the Finn class at three consecutive Olympic Games ('84, '88, '92). Three years of involvement in the Farr 40 class have led him to compete in the world championship for the first time this week. "The experience in Chicago has been fantastic," he said before the start of the first race aboard Flojito y Cooperando. "The venue, the atmosphere, the organization has been really good. Our goal is to finish in the top 50% of the fleet. It is an extremely competitive fleet, so if we finish 10 or above that would be a very good result for us."